Abstract

Between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century the British Museum acquired as part of its cuneiform collections 120 economic tablets from Uruk dating to the Seleucid period; they belong to what has been described as “the most spectacular Hellenistic archives available today”. This book offers an analysis of the collection, accompanied by text editions. The approach adopted is to explore the documents in three main thematic sections: arable land, urban properties, and temple prebends. The administrative texts have been treated as a group. Particular attention is paid to the role played by specific families, individuals or groups in each area of interest, as well as to shedding new light on the ownership patterns and business strategies that characterised the activities of the parties to the documents.

Highlights

  • Between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century the British Museum acquired as part of its cuneiform collections 120 economic tablets from Uruk dating to the Seleucid period; they belong to what has been described as “the most spectacular Hellenistic archives available today”

  • Particular attention is paid to the role played by specific families, individuals or groups in each area of interest, as well as to shedding new light on the ownership patterns and business strategies that characterised the activities of the parties to the documents

  • The so-called L-size, are usually justified by an exceptionally long content, either due to the need for details in the description of the object of the transaction or to the fact that the transaction involves more than one item (e.g., No 12-ALP records the sale of arable land and prebends; No 85-P and No 71-P are multiple prebends contracts; Nos 52-P and 109-P concern food prebends whose constituents are detailed in the contracts; No 63-Real estate (RE) records the sale of a property whose description is divided into 4 different plots)

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Summary

The Collection

The Babylonian Collection of Cuneiform Tablets housed in the British Museum includes 120 tablets (and a few fragments) consisting mainly of contracts and (a few) administrative documents from Uruk (modern Warka), dating to the Seleucid period. The tablets were accessioned by the British Museum between 1849 and 1924. The Babylonian Collection of Cuneiform Tablets housed in the British Museum includes 120 tablets (and a few fragments) consisting mainly of contracts and (a few) administrative documents from Uruk (modern Warka), dating to the Seleucid period.. The tablets were accessioned by the British Museum between 1849 and 1924. Most of them were acquired through the antiquities market; only a few were unearthed in Warka during regular excavations

The ‘Loftus tablets’ and the Fragments from Kuyunjik
Tablets in the Bu 89-4-26 Collection
Tablets Bought from the Antiquities Dealer Gejou
Tablets in the 1913-4-16 Collection
Tablets in the 1914-4-4 Collection
Tablets in the 1920-3-13 Collection
Tablets in the 1924-12-13 Collection
Synthesis
Landscape-oriented
Portrait-oriented
Language, Script and mise-en-page7
Obverse and Reverse
Rulings, Blank Spaces and Other Markers
Duplicates
Duplicates Housed in Other Museums
Tablet Type and Content
Date-groups and Content
Chronological Distribution
Arable Land
Arable land on ‘the bank of the moat and the wall of Uruk’
Size and Status of Arable Land
Arable Land and the Prebendary Gardeners
No 03-RE: short side to the west
Suite, unbuilt plot exit (40×16)
36 The Edusaggara might also be mentioned in BiMes 24 12
30 Note the following correspondences with the duplicate YOS 20 17
33 Corrects the transliteration of YOS 20 17
Findings
No 104-RE
Full Text
Published version (Free)

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